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Lastminute calls time on Nasdaq

LASTMINUTE.COM, the internet leisure company, yesterday moved to unwind one of the exuberant legacies of its flotation in 2000, by announcing plans to delist from the Nasdaq market in the US.

The company said that removing its American Depository Receipts from the Nasdaq market, where 2.5 per cent of its estimated 236 million shares are held, would save about £1.5 million in legal and administrative costs.

David Howell, the finance director, said that while US investors represented about a quarter of the company’s share base, the vast majority of investors bought traded ordinary shares through the company’s primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Its largest shareholder is Fidelity Investment Services, the mutual fund. Other US investors include State Street Global Advisers and Capital Research…